[img]2012q2/ct_etoefm_etoefspeakc_0087_20124[/img] [originaltext] What is str

What is stress and how is it produced? Usually when we are very frightened and worried our bodies produce certain chemicals to help us fight what is troubling us. If we don’t use up these chemicals, or if we produce too many of them, they may actually harm us, usually this kind of feeling we call it stress. The parts of the body that are most affected by stress are the stomach, heart, skin, head and back. Stress can cause car accidents, heart attacks, and alcoholism, and may even drive people to suicide.
    Our living and working conditions may put us under stress. Overcrowding in large cities, traffic jams, competition for jobs, uncertainty about the future, any big change in our lives, may be stressful. Some British doctors have pointed out that one of Britain’s worst flu waves came within weeks of the country changing to decimal coinage. Also if you have changed jobs or moved house in recent months you are more likely to fall ill than if you haven’t. In addition more people commit suicide in times of inflation.
    As with all illnesses prevention is better than cure. A very common danger signal is the inability to relax. When you’re taking work home, when you can’t enjoy an evening with friends, when you haven’t time for outdoor exercise that is the time to stop and ask yourself whether your present life really suits you.
    There are plenty of ways we can help ourselves to relax and enjoy life and beat the enemy "stress", such as do some exercises before fall asleep, do the window-shopping etc.